Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Yonathan Mesfun. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Yonathan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me was make me find my creative side within. Before, I always had this knack for finding myself in creative spaces. I constantly had my hands dabble in various creative avenues such as music, photography, podcasting, directing, you name it. But it wasn’t until a phone call with this person that I realized my potential as a creative. I decided to pursue podcasting and creative directing with photography and filmmaking. Since then, they’ve helped me get out of my comfort zone by helping me with creating personal content, volunteering themselves as a model so I could practice my photography, putting me in important rooms that I needed to be in so I could make the right connections for my creative career, and would even help promote my business when I had no business at all.

Why I mention this as the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me is simply because this person didn’t have to do these things for me at all and was never obligated to do so, but they decided to be involved with what I did because they believed in me before I even believed in myself. Little do they know my life was forever changed because my creative career has shown me what beautiful things can come out of life when you decide to do what you love.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m an Ethiopian creative entrepreneur from the DMV area who excels in photography, filmmaking, podcasting, and creative directing. You could also just say I’m a creative to make it more simple. I got into this industry because of my desire to express myself in a way that would allow people to appreciate something a bit different yet familiar in my art. From a business standpoint, I wanted to establish a creative service business that provides affordable photography and filmmaking services for those looking to expand their brands to the next level. What I solve for my clients and what sets me apart from others is being able to direct an entire creative project from scratch to help figure out the style, the location, the rollout process, everything. The only thing the client needs to do is show up, and everything else will be taken care of from there.

The proudest thing I have accomplished in my creative career was shooting a Reebok campaign for their new drop. It was a massive milestone in my job because it gave me a glimpse of what I could achieve and made me realize that I was pursuing the right career. Since then I have taken part in various projects such as handling campaigns for Telfar and working closely with celebrities and artists such as Marsai Martin, Smino, Summer Walker and more. These are the types of projects I have been striving to achieve since then and if there is anything my followers and clients want to know about my work, it is that I can truly bring any vision to life, no matter how complex the idea is.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is inspiring others that you’re not far from being who you want to be as an artist or creative. My work has shown people that you can make what you feel like making. It’s always been about impact for me. As long as I can somehow positively influence someone into making them believe that they can become a great photographer, director, model, artist, or even a better person through my work, my mission is complete. You have to think about your why in your passion, and it’s always been to spread some light to others into loving who they are and what they do.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In my senior year of college, I was renting an apartment with my friend, and things were going just fine financially since I was working on campus until one day, I was laid off. I hit the panic button real quick, needing to cover my rent since I was paying out of pocket at the time, but fortunately, I had two months of rent saved up to buy me some time. Man, when I tell you, my stress level was through the roof. Most of my friends at the time didn’t even know about this, and it’s wild because if I told them now, they would probably understand why I stayed home cooking most nights instead of eating out. It was crunch time for me since I had about nine months left in my lease, but then it hit me that instead of finding a new job, I could take my photography business more seriously and grow a stable income to cover my rent. When I tell you I was scraping every dollar and cent I was making through my business, I mean it because, at that time, it felt like survival of the fittest until I survived. So, I pretty much needed my business to do well, or else I would’ve had trouble with my leasing office. In terms of resilience, this proves that I always make it happen, even when my chances are slim.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://juscallmeshoots.me/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juscallmeyoni/
• Other: photography instagram page: @juscallmeshoots_ https://www.instagram.com/juscallmeshoots_/

Image Credits

Yonathan Mesfun